Locomotive tender



June 21, 193s. EP, ROESCH 2,121,328

LOCOMOTIVE TENDER Filed May 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 '1: ,l sg 16 12*2i i?? n .37 l' 134 l La@ f" 36 s 4a l'. a l 454! .lf3 ZI ff f y-INVENTOR y egzf/f @0656/2 ATTORNEY5 June 21, 1938.

F. P. RoEscH 2,121,328

LIOCOMOTIVE` TENDER Filed Maly i9, 193e 2 sheets-sheet 2 1f ATToRNEYPatented June 21, 1938` y UNM-'ED STATES AisNT oFFicE LOCOMTIVE TENDERFrank P. Roesch, Chicago,` Ill., assignor,v by mesne assignments, to TheStandard Stoker Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation ofDelaware Application May 19, 1936, Serial No. 80,518

14 Claims.

therein a means for urging coal toward the locomotive. This meansincludes a trough housing a conveyor screw, theillustratedarrangementbeing of approved construction and its commercialuse is extensive. The flow of coal from the bin to the trough,V in sucharrangements, is controlled by a series of slidable plates mounted overthe open mouth of the trough. As evident from the disclosure of thepatent, the slidable plates are arranged to be moved forward forpermitting passage of coal into the trough as thesupply diminishes.

It is the practice, `in the railroad industry, to replenish the coalsupply prior to complete depletion of the fuel bin. The zone of coal atthe rear of the bin seldom enters the stoker trough and therefore restsupon the `steel sheets forming the rearward portion of the fuel bin.

Because of this condition, the steel sheets forming the rear portion ofthe fuel bin become corroded, necessitating their frequent removal andreplacement. Furthermore, coal which is `dormant for a long perioddeteriorates in quality through weathering and is consequently of littlefuel value.

In emergencies, it is sometimes necessary to utilize all the coal in thefuely bin. To do this, the stoker operator usually employed a pick toloosen the Zone of dormant coal at the rear portion of the bin.Thismanual operation is arduous, time consuming and dangerous.

Accordingly, it is the main object of this invention to improvelocomotive tenders of the character specified by an arrangement of partswhereby the coal will not remain dormant for long periods upon thesheets of the fuel bin.

Specifically, the invention contemplates a novel arrangement of slidableplates over the stoker trough which permits the primary feed of'coalfrom the bin into the trough to occur from the rearmost zone of the bin.

Other objects reside in specific details of construction which permit#free sliding movement of the plates, and their ready removal from andinsertion within the guideways thereof.

Further objects and the advantages of this invention over pastpracticewill become apparent actuated shaft 3l.

as the following description is read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein,

` Fig. l is a central vertical longitudinal section through the 4forwardportion of a locomotive tender, illustrating the invention in similarsection;

Fig.. 2 is a plan View taken on the line 2--2 Aof the structureillustrated in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View in plan taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken on lines 5--5 and 6 6,respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional viewtaken on line 'l-l of Fig. 6; and

Fig. `8 is a fragmentary sectional View taken along line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

On these drawings, the tender is indicated by T and comprises a baseframe I on which is supported a water tank Ii having a fuel bin. 4l2formed in its forward portion. The fuel bin I2 is vdefined by a rearsheet i3, the side sloping sheets Ill, l and the coal gate I6 whichextends Vbetween bulkheads Il, I8 atthe front of the tender. In itsbottom the fuel bin l2 is separated from the watercompartment ISby asteel sheet 2t, the opposite sides of the latter joining the lower edgesof respective side sloping sheets I ll, l5. The sheet "Zllfis depressedbelow the plane of the tender deck plate 2| and'receives a trough 22 ofa stolzer conveying mechanism S.

The` stoker conveying mechanism comprises the trough 22 in which ismounted a conveyor screw 23 having its rearward end journalled in aremovable bearing 24 and operably connected at its forward end with ashaft 25 driven by transmission gearing 26 carried by the terminalmember 2l. Terminal member 2l is mounted in an alcove 28 formed at thefront end of the v"tender below the plane of the deck plate 2l `andhouses a conveyorscrew 29 which is disposed subjacent the troughconveyor screw 23 to receive fuel therefrom for delivery toward theloco-` motive.y Transmission gearing 30 is carried by the terminalmember 2l for driving the conveyor screw 29 from its rearward end; thegearings 26, 30 are each operatively connected with a power At itsupperrearward portion 32, the terminal member 21 constitutes a forwardextension of the trough 22` and is in abutting relation with the forwardend of said trough 22 at a point within the alcove 28. `The upperrearward portion 32 of the terminal member 2l supports a Crusher 33which arches over the conveyor screw 23 and is disposed in a plane belowand forward of the coal gate I6.

The trough 22 is seated upon the bottom sheet and is provided withlaterally extending flanges 34, 35, one at each side of the uppermarginal edge of the trough., Flanges 34, extend from the forward end ofthe trough 22 rearwardly to the rear sheet I3 and are secured, by meansof welding, to the lower portions of the respective side sloping sheetsI4, I5. The rear sheet I3 carries brackets 33 on which is mounted aguide plate 31 inclined at approximately7 the same angle as the slopingportion I3@ of the sheet 3 and arranged with its lower end spacedslightly forward of vthe conveyor screw bearing 24. This constructionassures that coal in the rearward Zone of the fuel bin i2 will fall ontotheV conveying flight of the screw 23 and not upon the bearing 24 or inthe space immediately at the rear thereof.

In approximately'the plane of the deck plate 2l, the trough flanges 34,35 are each provided with a runway 33 within which are mounted the flatsides 3S of plates 46). arranged in a series, and extend from a pointslightly forward of the coal gate i3 rearwardly toward the downwardlysloping guide plate 31 but terminate short thereof a distance sufficientto form an opening 4I for the preliminary feed of coal into therearwardportion of the trough 22. In the present embodiment, the plates 49 arebowed upwardly a suicient distance above the trough conveyor screw 23 topermit conveyance of lump coal therebeneath and into the zone ofactionof the crusher 33, the latter being disposed below the plates 43 for thepurpose .which will be hereinafter set forth.

Forward of the trough-flanges 34, 35, the terminal member 21 is providedwith at table-like surfaces 4I, 42, respectively, which are inapproximate horizontal alignment with the bottom surface of each runway38. These vflat table-like surfaces 4I, 42 extend along each side of theupwardly opened mouth 43 of the terminal member 21. and serve to supportthe deck plate 2| and the hood 44, the latter being mounted over themouth 43 and hinged as at'45 to the deck plate 2|. The hinged hood 44 isso shaped that the foremost fuel control plate may be moved thereunder,the flat sides of which rest upon the flat table-like surfaces 4I, #l2of the terminal member 2. By swinging the hood 44 about its hinge 45,each plate 4Q, when moved to a position forward of therunways'33 may beremoved, or, insertion of the plates '43 into the runways may beaccomplished placing each over the open mouth 43 of the terminal memberand moving each plate rearwardly to an engaging relation with therunways 38.

The described construction is also of utility in maintaining the screw23 in good working cond"- lis provided with foot members 33dA disposedalong each side thereof for engaging the grooves 48 formed in theterminal member 2l, whereby upward Vmovement of the crusher is normallyprevented. Pins'such as 41, passing through one The plates 4) are set ofoppositely arranged foot members 33a and intof the terminal member 21,normally prevent fore and aft movement of said crusher. Upon removal ofpins 41, the crusher 33 may be moved to the left a distance sufficientto cause the foot member 33a thereof to disengage the grooves 46,whereupon, the crusher may be removed by lifting the same vertically.

The conveyor screw Z3 may then be removed from the trough 22 byloosening the bolts of the bearing 24, permitting rearward movement ofthe screw 23 and bearing 24 a distance sufficient to cause the screw 23to become disengaged from driving relation with the shaft 25. Asapparent from Figs. 1 and 4, the crusher 33 may also be removed from itsposition over the screw 23 when the plates 40 are in the relation shownin Fig. l. This is accomplished by disposing the crusher 33 slightly tothe left of the coal gate i6 and by providing an overlapping relationbetween the rst plate 40 and the crusher 33 which is less than thedistance required to move the crusher leftward for'disengaging thelatter from the grooves 46.

The opening 4I for the preliminary feed of coal into the rearwardportion of the trough 22 is maintained by the provision of means forlimiting rearward movement of the plates 40 from the position shown inFigs. l and 2. This limiting means is formed by a wall 4B at each end ofrunway 38 of the flanges 34, 35 and against which wall the ends of theflat sides 39 of the rearmost plate 4B are arranged to abut. Extendingforwardly from this wall 48 is a pocket 49 which opens inwardly into thetrough 22 and permits passage into the trough 22 of any coal dust whichmay accumulate between the flat sides 39 of the rearmost plate 4B andthe wall 48. It will be readily understood that such accumulation ofcoal dust would prevent the rearward movement of the plates 40 to theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

yIn operation, assuming the fuel bin I2 to be filled with coal and theplates 4U in the position as shown in Figs, l and 2, the coal passinginto the trough 22 through the preliminary feed opening 4|, is conveyedforwardly by the screw 23 which cooperates with the crusher 33 to reducelarge lumps of fuel to a size more suitable for eicient ring. Thecrushed coal drops onto the subjacent conveyor screw 28 for deliverytoward the locomotive. It will be apparent that the preliminary feedopening 4I controls the flow of a considerable Zone of coal into thetrough 22;

consequently, the coal adjacent the coal gate I6 will be available, fora greater period than heretofore has been possible, as an emergencysupply which may be fed manually into the locomotive rebox duringperiods when the Stoker' mechanism is not in operation for any reason.

Upon depletion of the coal supply in the Zone adjacent the opening 4i,the Stoker operator draws forwardly the foremost plate 40 to a positionunderneath the hinged hood 44, thereby creating a secondary fuel feedopening immediately rearward of the coal gate i6. The plates 40 are eachmoved forward successively as the fuel supply is depleted rearward ofthe coal gate IS. Any reserve of fuel remaining above the plates 40 willbe in the form of a ridge extending transversely between the side sheetsI4, I5, and since this ridge is unsupported at its forward or rearwardsides, this ridge will be broken down and mixed with additional coalsupplied to the bin I2 when replenishment thereof is necessary.

From the foregoing, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art thatby the present invention, coal will not remain for long periods at anypoint of the bin I2; consequently there will be very little weatheringof coal and deterioration of the steel sheets of the fuel bin.Futhermore, the construction is such that a supply of coal adjacent thecoal gate I6 is available to the stoker operator for greater periodsthan possible heretofore.

I claim:

1. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including a rear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of saidbin, a conveyor arranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, aplurality of shiftable plates shielding a portion of said conveyor fromthe Coal in said bin, means carried by the tender at the lower portionof said fuel bin affording slidable support for said shiftable plates,and a stop element disposed forwardly of said rear' wall,

said plates extending from a point adjacent said coal gate rearwardly tosaid stop element forming an opening for the preliminary feed of coalfrom said bin to the rearward end of said conveyor.

2. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including arear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of said ibin, a conveyor arranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, aplurality of shiftable plates shielding a portion of said'conveyor fromthe coal in said bin, means carried by the tender at the lower portionof said fuel bin affording slidable supportfor said shiftable plates,and a stop `and a coal gate at the forward end of said bin,

a 'trough arranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, a conveyorin said trough, a plurality of shiftable plates shielding a portion ofsaid conveyor from the coal in said bin, means carried 1 by the tenderat the lower portion of said fuel bin affording slidable support forsaid shiftable plates, and a stop element disposed forwardly of saidrear wall, said plates extending from a point adjacent said coal gaterearwardly to said stop element forming an opening for the preliminaryfeed of coal from said bin to the rearward end of said conveyor.

4. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including a rear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of saidbin, a trough arranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, aconveyor screw in said trough, a plurality of shiftable plates shieldinga portion of said conveyor screw from the coal in said bin, meanscarried by the tender at the lower portion of said fuel bin aiordingslidable support for said shiftable plates, and a stop element disposedforwardly of said rear wall, said plates extending from a point adjacentsaid coal gate rearwardly to said stop element forming an opening forthe preliminary feed of coal from said bin to the rearward end of saidconveyor screw.

5. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, anapproximately horizontally disposed deck for said tender forward of saidbin,

a conveyor lextending below the plane of said deck arranged to receivecoal by gravity from said bin, a plurality of shiftable plates over saidconveyor, means carried by the tender at the lower portion of said fuelbin affording slidable support for said shiftable plates, said platesextending above the plane of said deck and arranged for movementforwardly, and a removable hood forward of said bin extending-from theplane of said deck to a point above said shiftable plates, said hoodarranged to receive one of said shiftable plates thereunder forwithdrawal of such plate from its operative position upon removal ofsaid hood.

'6. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, anapproximately horizontally disposed deck for said tender forward of saidbin, conveyor extending below the plane of said deck arranged to receivecoal by gravity from said bin, a plurality of shiftable plates over saidconveyor,A means carried by the tender at the lower portion of said fuelbin affording slidable support for said shiftable plates, said platesextending above the plane of said deck and are rangedfor movementforwardly, and a removable hood forward vof said bin extending from theplane of said deck to a point above said shiftable plates and over aportion of said conveyor, said hood arranged to receive one of said ishiftable plates thereunder for withdrawal of moval of said hood.

7. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal,l anapproximately horizontally disposed deck for said tender forward of saidbin, a conveyor extending below the plane of said deck karranged toreceive coal by gravtiy from said bin, a plurality of shiftable platesover said conveyor, vmeans carried by the tender atthe lower portion ofsaid fuel bin affording slidable support for said shiftable plates, saidplates extending above the plane of said deck and arranged for movementforwardly, and ahood for-- ward of said bin extending above the plane ofsaid deck and being hinged thereto, said hood arranged to receive one ofsaid shiftable plates. 8. A locoiriotive` tender comprising a bin forthe` storage of coal, an approximately horizontally disposed deck forsaid tender forward of said bin, a conveyor extending below the plane ofsaid deck arranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, a pluralityof shiftable plates over said conveyor, means carried by the tender atthe lower portion of said fuel bin affording slidable support for saidshiftable plates, said plates extending above the plane of said deck andarranged for movement forwardly, and a hood forward of said binextending above the plane of said deck and over a portion of saidconveyor, said hood being removable from its position over said conveyorand arranged to receive one of said shiftable plates when in positionover such portion of said conveyor.

9. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, anapproximately horizontally disposed deck for said tender forward of saidbin, a conveyor extending below the plane of said deck arranged toreceive coal by gravity from said bin, a plurality of shiftable platesover said conveyor, means carried by the tender at the lower portion ofsaid fuel bin affording slidable support for said shiftable plates, saidplates extending above the plane of said deck and arranged for movementforwardly, and a hood forward of said bin extending above the plane ofsaid deck and over a portion of said conveyor, said hood being hingedwith respect to said deck and arranged to receive one of said shiftableplates when in position over such portion of said conveyor.

10` A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, a coalgate at the forward end of said bin, an approximately horizontallydisposed deck for said tender extending forward of said coal gate, aconveyor extending below the plane of said deck arranged to receive coalby gravity from said bin, a crusher extending above the plane of saiddeck and cooperating with said conveyor for reducing lump coal, aplurality of shiftable plates extending over said conveyor including aplate adjacent said coal gate arranged to slide over said crusher, meanscarried by the tender atv the lower portion of said fuel bin affordingslidable support for said shiftable plates, and a removable hood forwardof said coal gate extending from the plane of said deck to apoint abovesaid Crusher and shiftable plates, said hood arranged to receive one ofsaid plates thereunder and above said crusher for withdrawal of suchplate from its operative position upon removal of said hood.

11. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including a rear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of saidbin, an approximately horizontally disposed deck for said tenderextending forward of said coal gate, a conveyor extending below theplane of said deck arranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, aplurality of shiftable plates shielding a portion of said conveyor fromthe coal in said bin, means carried by the tender at the lower portionof said fuel bin affording slidable support for said shiftable plates, astop element disposed forwardly of said rear wall, saidplates extendingfrom a point adjacent said coal gate rearwardly to, said stop elementforming an opening for the preliminary feed of coal from said bin to therearward end of said conveyor. y

12. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including a rear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of saidbin, an approximately horizontally disposed deck for said tenderextending forwardl of said coal gate, a trough in said bin extendingbelow the plane of said deck and arranged to receive coal by gravityfrom said bin, a conveyor in said trough for urging fuel forwardly, saidtrough being provided along its opposite sides with runways, a pluralityof shiftable plates extending over said conveyor and being mounted formovement in said runways, and a stop element disposed forwardly of saidrear wall, said plates extending from a point adjacent said coal gaterearwardly to said stop element forming an opening for the preliminaryfeed of coal from said bin to the rearward end of said trough.

13. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including a rear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of saidbin, an approximately horizontally disposed deck for said tenderextending forward of said coal gate, a trough in said bin extendingbelow the plane of said deck and arranged to receive coal by gravityfrom said bin, a conveyor in said trough for urging fuel forwardly, saidtrough being provided along its opposite sides with runways, and aplurality of shiftable plates extending over said conveyor and beingmounted for movement in said runways, said runways terminating short ofsaid rear wall and forming a means for limiting rearward movement ofsaid plates, said plates extending from a point adjacent said coal gaterearwardly to said means to form an opening for the preliminary feed ofcoal from said bin to the rearward end of said trough.

14. A locomotive tender comprising a bin for the storage of coal, saidbin including a rear wall and a coal gate at the forward end of saidbin, an approximately horizontally disposed deck for said tenderextending forward of said coal gate,

a trough in said bin extending below the plane' of said deck andarranged to receive coal by gravity from said bin, a conveyor in saidtrough for urging fuel forwardly, said trough being provided along itsopposite sides with runways, and a plurality of shiftable platesextending over said trough and being mounted for movement in saidrunways, said runways terminating short of said rear wall and forming ameans for limiting rearward movement of said plates, said platesextending from a point adjacent said coal gate rearwardly to said meansto form an opening for the preliminary feed of coal from said bin to therearward end of said trough, said trough being provided adjacent saidmeans with coal dust pockets which open into said trough.

FRANK P. ROESCII.

